


The End Of An Era

by hirusen



Series: The Tale Of Fireteam Praetor [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Dialogue, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Destiny 2 Vanilla Campaign, Guardian Lore, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Deleted One Of My Characters To Do This, Language, you're welcome internet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:34:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26119630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirusen/pseuds/hirusen
Summary: This was not the threat they had been expecting to fight.
Series: The Tale Of Fireteam Praetor [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896535
Kudos: 2





	The End Of An Era

**Author's Note:**

> So...I got bored and decided I'm going to torture myself by writing the entirety of the Destiny 2 Vanilla Campaign. Why? Because Guardian Lore and I hate myself.

Liam was heading back to the Tower. He and his fireteam had split up for the time being, Nis and Echo dealing with some stuff with the Vex on Venus, and Liam just now flying back from helping out two raid teams--one in the Plaguelands, and the second bring in the Ishtar Sink on Venus--and finishing up some unfinished business on the Dreadnaught. What had him coming back sooner than he would've like was that his Hive runes had been pulsing frantically which wasn't a good sign. It also didn't help that everyone he communes with in his Ascendant Throne world as gone quiet, which has never happened before.

Yes, they'll go quiet from time to time, but to have complete silence like this wasn't good. _Oryx? Crota? Atheon? Aksis?_

Nothing. It was like his connection to them was being cut off. _...I hope the others are alright..._ He hasn't heard from his fireteam in a while now, which also isn't normal; Echo would've at least sent him a message to check in. He focused more deeply on his runes, trying to pull something, anything, from those bound to his Throne world. _Draksis? Gologoroth? Omnigul? Kolar? Primus Ta'aun? Sepiks? Sylok? Valus Tlu'urn?_ Finally, a voice rings out.

 _"Ambush. Hurry."_ "Aiden, contact Tower Approach. Something's off." Aiden, his Ghost and best fucking friend in this system, appeared and a worried look was in his eye. "What makes you so sure?" Liam scoffed at his friend, but understood the question. His Hive runes settled the moment that voice spoke, but... "Everyone in my Ascendant Throne is silent, and only one voice managed to escape it." "Who's?"

"Not 100 perfect sure, but I do know it was one of the Cabal." "What did they say?" "Ambush. Hurry." Aiden didn't hesitate any longer as they finally got into range of the Tower comms. "Tower Approach, this is City Hawk seven-two-three, come in."

Silence.

"Repeat, Tower Approach, this is City Hawk seven-two-three. Anyone home...?" All they got was static. "No response on any channels, even the emergency frequencies." Aiden looked over to Liam then, his new shell--a gift given by the Speaker for all of Liam's efforts in protecting the City--shined in the dim light as Liam spared him a quick glance. Aiden sighed. "What is going on back there?"

A moment passed between them. _Please don't let this voice be right._ "Remember when I told you that you fly too fast?" "Yeah...?" "Forget I said that. Fly fast." Liam didn't need to be told to punch it twice; there was a small shiver of fear that flew up his spine as he pushed his ship's thrusters as hard as they could go.

Breaching the storm that had surrounded the Last City, Liam and Aiden were horrified to see it burning, pillars of smoke reaching the Traveler, and some kind of strange contraption on it.

* * *

Liam quickly flew into the Tower Watch, though that was wreaked pretty badly, fire and debris littering practically every inch of the place.

"Let's get moving. We need to find Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde." Liam's heart thumped a little heavier at the mention of his boyfriend, though the two have been dating in secret these last few years, and while Liam knew Cayde could hold his own in a firefight, the thought still made him worried.

Normally, the fires burning around him wouldn't affect him too much as the Void Light that Nightstalkers, like himself, use nullified their heat, but that wasn't the case anymore. He couldn't feel the Void tingling in his limbs like he's used to. Instinct quickly had him try to switch back to his old friend, Arcblade, but the Arc Light wasn't coming to him either, forced to use Solar Light instead.

A soft chuckle as he steps forward escapes Liam; he was a menace back when Arc was his preferred subclass, sweeping up stacked teams away from their Rifts or choke points in the Crucible, wiping away full rooms of enemies during Vanguard strikes, and loving the sounds of awe and amazement from young and newly risen Guardians out on patrol, saving many a young Hunter and Warlock life, and on occasion a reckless Titan too.

Suddenly, the crumbling wall before him gave way, his sidearm in his grip, as an enemy he never thought would ever be in the Tower was before him.

"Cabal!" Aiden cried out, most likely from surprise. The Legionaries didn't stand much of a chance against Liam, but still. "This doesn't make sense. The Cabal conquer systems by blowing up planets. Whatever they want, it must be here--in the Last City." Aiden spoke up, and Liam hissed through his teeth.

He hates that voice was right about things. The Cabal have somehow managed to successfully ambush the Last City.

What's strange is that there's been no discussions about such a thing on any of the Cabal networks and even if there was, the Cabal in his Throne world would have warned him of such a thing. _Unless this is a new faction._ It was possible after all; some discourse was happening with the Cabal seat of power, something about a new Emperor or something like that, but would it really have caused a new faction to appear?

Another cluster of Legionaries were killed after one of them destroyed a Frame with some kind of blade on its arm. _Oh good. They have new toys._

 _"This is Commander Zavala. Civilians: report to evac points. Guardians: rendezvous in the Plaza. Our City will not fall."_ Zavala's voice rang out in the comms, and a breath of relief left Liam. At least the Commander was alright. A Cabal tried to surprise Liam by appearing from around the corner, but you don't try to spook a Hunter and live as Liam's knife dug deep into the Cabal's throat, killing it quickly.

The doors to the next room were opening slowly, when a body was suddenly flung forward, a gasp escaping Liam when he realized who it was. "Cayde!" "Hey, you two! Give me a sec." He spoke before summoning all the Solar Light in his body, his Golden Gun ringing to life, and he quickly downed the three Cabal in the room.

Of course, he twirled his famous gun, the Ace Of Spades, as soon as turned back to them. Typical Cayde-6. "Zavala's doing the hero act in the Plaza. Me? I've got a date with whoever's behind this. It'll be a short date." Cayde spoke as he walked further into the room. "Just be careful, love. And save some for me." Cayde smiled to him--hard thing to notice if you've never been around an Exo for long--before Blinking up through a crack in the ceiling, doing whatever he was gonna do.

Going up the stairs, he was greeted to the sight of armed Frames and scared, but alive Lightless; the people Guardians like Liam swore to protect. Heading further down, he saw a single horn and knew who it was. "Ah, Saladin's Young Wolf. My armory is open to you. Follow the path from there. It will lead you through the Hanger to the Plaza. I'll take care of these people. If the Cabal want war, give them war."

As Shaxx spoke this, he rolled his shoulders back before stepping up to the door, most likely not functioning, and Liam watched in stunned shock as Lord Shaxx dug his fingers between the gap in the door and pulled one of the doors open.

Titans man. They're strong as shit.

Quickly stepping inside, Liam grabbed one of the Auto rifles and a Solar bound sidearm that were storied in the armory (for some reason, most of his gear had gone missing, apart from his gifted sidearm and the armor on his back; something happened to the Vaults, perhaps?), and loaded a magazine into them. He entered the code to unlock the doors and followed the path up to the Plaza, killing Cabal along the way.

 _"Evacuation order 77 is in effect. This is not a drill. All civilians report to designated evacuation areas immediately."_ The broadcast system echoed out as Liam headed up the stairs to the Hanger. Which was rife with Cabal. He really didn't like that the Centurion now had Solar energy shields around them. As soon as he killed it, a drop pod slammed into the room, and more Cabal spilled from it.

 _Must be how their getting their reinforcements in so quickly._ Liam quickly killed them and moved outside.

Only to see a giant command ship heading further into the City, a symbol Liam's never seen before on the side. "Look at the size of that thing. It must be their command ship." Aiden pointed out, another shiver of dread washing down Liam's back. He wasn't connected to his Ascendant Throne world, so he had no way of asking the Cabal there who these Cabal were.

Moving forward, Liam fought off two rounds of Cabal in the Hanger bay, and Aiden's next words honestly horrified him. "They're not just assaulting the Tower. Look at the Traveler!" Rushing over to the edge of the bay, Liam was in a short state of horror at whatever was on the Traveler. _Is the Traveler what they're here for?_ The thought had ice running through Liam's blood, but then a fire was lit within him seconds later.

He wasn't going to let that happen.

Cayde's voice rang through the comms as Liam made his way through the burning rubble to get to the Plaza. _"Ok. My Ghost keeps tagging these Cabal as 'Red Legion.' Ikora, what do you got?" "Their elite. Ruthless. And rumor is, they have never known defeat." "Until today. Today, they face Guardians."_ Zavala spoke up, resolute as always. _"But Zavala! They're attacking the Traveler!" "The Traveler waits! We protect our people. At any cost."_ The Strike Commander interjected at Ikora's very real worry, but in the end the man was right.

They were Guardians. Protecting the innocents who cannot fight back was what they do.

Liam managed to get through to the Plaza, but Aiden's voice rang out in distress. "The Traveler...what is that...thing they're attaching to it?" "I don't like it either, Aiden. But we have to make sure the Lightless are out of here safely first. Then we'll crack together a lot of heads." It didn't put Aiden all the way at ease, the Traveler was his parent in a way after all, but it did help him focus back to the task at hand. "Right. Just...promise me you'll stay safe." Liam smiled under his helmet. "Promise." Pushing forward into the Plaza, Liam was delighted to see it crowded with Guardians.

Warlocks, Titans, and Hunters were spread out, some of them, Liam could see, were like him--around for a few years now--but then he saw a handful of Guardians who could barely keep themselves alive. He rushed to their side and quickly told them to head to the Commander. "You guys alright?" Many of them nodded, but Liam could tell they were badly shaken; and who could blame them? You're brought back to life to help defend humanity, told by your Ghost that they need to get you to the Tower and the Last City because they're safe places, and you're greeted with this. Liam would've been shaken too. "These Red Legion are well trained. But we are better." "Agreed, but these Kinderguardians should leave with the civilians." Zavala cocked a brow at Liam, who had Aiden transmat his helmet off, waiting for his reasoning.

"Look at them." Liam pointed to the group he guided to Zavala's side and the Commander's eyes softened. "Yes, we can be thrusted into combat quite quickly, but when you can avoid that, be guided home by your Ghost who told you this would be a safe place and greeted to this? They aren't ready for it, Commander." "And you think having them protect the civilians would be better?" "Gives them a chance to gather themselves; see what we're fighting to protect. Yes, I understand that them fighting here would be an excellent combat experience, but they're just finding their feet..." Zavala chuckled for a moment. "That didn't stop you from killing a Fallen Archon." Liam chuckled himself. "Ah, did you forget my gift, old friend?"

Zavala looked him right in the eyes. "No." Then his gaze turned to the younglings, all of them waiting for his command. "...I agree with your assessment. Guardians, head back to the evac points and join the civilians; do your best to protect them." Zavala then turned his attention back to the fight. Liam knelt down to their level, and offered a small grin. "Your Ghosts will guide you to where you need to go. Just aim for their head and they'll go down." "...Are you sure we'll be okay?" Liam sighed. "To be honest? I've got no idea. But I believe that you'll get through this and fight another day." The group seemed to have their resolve strengthen at his words and a small section of them broke off first, heading to the evac points.

"We will hold this line until the last civilian is safely away." Liam nodded, his helmet being transmatted back on and readying himself for another wave of Cabal (his fellow veterans having killed off the first wave while he and the Commander talked), when Liam heard the sound of rockets getting ready to fire. "Incoming! Fall back to my shield!" A nearby Titan quickly stood with Zavala as they both deployed a Ward of Dawn, striking more awe into the new Guardians that had remained behind, the rest of the Guardians quickly falling back to them and watched on as the rockets slammed into the shields, neither Titan flinching or moving an inch.

The new Guardians were startled by the suddenness of it all, but looked on in wonder as Liam and his fellow veterans didn't flinch, just glaring at the Cabal ships with anger. This was a threat they would not ignore. "Don't let them past the gate! The evac shuttles are back there!" Zavala informed the veterans, knowing that they weren't going to stay behind cover for long. And indeed Liam and the others didn't. To call it a slaughter wouldn't be wrong as the next wave of Cabal drop pods slammed down, Liam popping several with his throwing knife before gunning down the rest near him with his new Auto rifle and boy was he loving this one.

One of the Warlocks was getting overwhelmed, so Liam set off his Golden Gun and burned them to ash with each shot; he loved his Six-shooter set up for a reason. "We hold here. That command ship--it's next on my list." More Cabal dropped in, but as they were a quarter of the way through this wave, "Missiles! Stay inside my shield!" Liam and the others rushed back to Zavala as he popped another Ward, Liam giving a nod to the remaining Kinderguardians as they went to the evac point, leaving just Liam and his fellow veterans to defend the area. "More Red Legion! Show them what Guardians are made of!" Oh, gladly. The latest wave didn't stand a chance.

That's when Ikora's voice rung through the comms. _"Zavala, the last of the shuttles is away. But the Speaker--he never made it. I'm going to look for him."_ "I've got the Plaza. Go with Ikora. Find the Speaker!" The Commander spoke, and while Liam hesitated for a moment, those who he knew before all of this happened just smiled at him and nodded their heads. They all knew what he could do, and were trusting him to get it done. "We're on it, Commander!" Liam sprinted to the next area, winching slightly as he heard another wave of Cabal land in the Tower.

When he rushed through the halls, Liam felt so out of place as one of the cleaning Frames just kept working, almost like it was unaware of what was going on. Reaching the Tower North, Liam saw a swarm of Cabal laying in wait, but then a Nova bomb smashed into them and the group vanished as Ikora floated into view. "Ikora!" "The Speaker is gone." Ikora sounded mad. A Red Legion ship quickly flew into view moments later. "Red Legion, you will take no more from us. And you will find no mercy in me!" Ikora shouted as she ran and jumped high into the air, another Nova bomb rupturing from her hand and slamming to the ship, the ex-Crucible champion landing on the ship and riding it as it flew downward after one of its stabilizers were destroyed from the Nova.

Ikora was mad.

"Zavala--" _"She'll find the Speaker. We need to move on that command ship. Now head to the North Tower. I'm sending Amanda Holliday to pick you up."_ "Understood, Zavala. And please...be careful." Liam knew Zavala heard him before the line went silent. Liam glanced out to the City skyline, watching for a moment as it burned. "You too, Ikora." He then mowed his way through any and all Cabal that got in his way. Incendiors were new for the Cabal, but their flame packs were rather explode-able.

"When will the enemy learn to never be near something that explodes?" "I'm guessing never." Aiden quipped and Liam chuckled. _"Holliday is inbound. We need that ship off the field!"_ Zavala spoke in the private comms that Liam shares with the Vanguard and pushed forward until he got to an open enough area that Amanda could get her ship to. Of course, Liam killed the Cabal that were waiting for him. A ship started to ascend and Liam felt a smile spread his lips. _"Someone told me you need a ride."_ Liam was quickly transmatted onto her ship and she booked it towards the command ship.

"Zavala, picked up that Guardian you never shut up about." _"Get them on that command ship--Now!"_ Zavala's voice rang through Amanda's comms, and Liam watched as she steadied herself. "Hold on back there!" Liam wasn't gonna lie, Holliday was a brilliant pilot. As there was a moment of peace, despite the surrounding aerial combat, both Liam and Amanda glanced to the Traveler. "Come on, big guy. Do something." Amanda hushed before a shot slammed into her ship, Liam holding in a grunt as the impact smashed him against one of the walls. Amanda quickly regained focus and barreled for the command ship, flying upside down along the underbelly of the ship--Liam seeing the shielding around it lighting up as she did--and with a sharp maneuver, hovered over a drop point. "Alright, Guardian! Time to kick 'em where it hurts!"

* * *

The command ship seemed to be one of the sources of those Cabal drop pods, but Liam would worry about that later. Right now, he needed to disable this ship, if not destroy it completely. _"Let us know when the shields are down and we'll hit that ship with everything we got."_ Amanda spoke up, Liam responding with a quick, "Copy." before heading further inside. Three throwing knives later and the Cabal at his entry point were dead. "That hologram could help. Let me take a look." "Do your thing, Aiden." Liam said as he let his Ghost hack into the hologram, keeping an ear out for any guests that wanted to stop by.

"Ok, the shield generator should be at the bottom of the ship." Liam glanced at the layout as well, committing it to memory so he didn't have to bring Aiden out if he was stuck in the middle of a firefight and wasn't sure where to go. Had a knack of fast memorization. Could be a Hunter thing, but Liam was going to guess it had something to do with his past life. Of course, it wasn't long before he ran into a commander of this Red Legion: Pashk, The Searing Will.

And given that he was a Incendior, the title made sense. Didn't stop Liam from making his flamethrower pack explode and kill Pashk, but it made sense.

 _"Cayde! That's your status?"_ Zavala piped up in the private comms, and Liam heard that there was static in it now; their comms won't last much longer. _"Uh...little low on ammo. The whole flaming pistol--kinda burning out. Anyone --eard from Ikora?" "Not since she went for the Speaker. Form up! --on me!"_ That last part had to be to the Guardians that were still fighting with him in the Plaza. Liam pushed in further. He needed to get to the bottom and fast. The path he was on lead him to one of the exposed decks, rain and wind thundering against his body, but he didn't care, quickly taking out the Psions that were nearby and the Cabal that were both already on the deck and those who were dropping in to help.

Brann, The Unbent Blade flew into Liam's sight. _That has got to be a title a Hunter has given themselves at someone point._ He doesn't doubt it, though it wouldn't be something Liam did; all the titles he has were fucking earned the hard way. And thanks to Liam that Cabal's blade got bent. Heading back into the ship after clearing the surrounding area, Liam swept each deck clean of Cabal as he made his way down, quickly taking care of the turret that was waiting for him, which really? A turret? _I'm not sure I like of these new toys the Cabal have._

"The shield generator should be straight ahead." Aiden informed him as the door opened, an Incendior was laying in wait, and was quickly knifed in the neck. People should learn not to sneak up on Hunters; their first instinct is to stab. More Cabal were behind the door and Kreth, The Living Skyfire was guarding the entryway to the shield generators. The last commander, hopefully, didn't live much longer after Liam introduced him to his Golden Gun, and the Hunter made his way through the doorway. He'll give these Red Legion props for at least trying to keep the place well guarded. "Alright. Destroy the turbines. The shields should fizzle." Aiden told him and Liam waited for the rotating arms of the generator to pass before dropping down to do so; even Liam knew those were going faster than they appeared to be.

"Yes! Just like that!" Aiden praised though they both knew that he didn't need to. The next one when down just as fast as the first. "Heat levels rising! It's working!" "Well that's good. I'd hate for all of this to be for nothing." Liam commented as he leapt out of the dip and raced for the last turbine, quickly destroying that one as well. "Zavala! We did it! The shields are down!" Aiden announced, but all they heard was static. Liam swallowed hard before saying, "Zavala?" There were fires starting to spring up after the generator took such heavy damage, so Liam hastily started to make his way back to the top of the ship. "Amanda! We're heading topside!" Liam shouted, but was greeted his ears was more static and the faint sound of combat. "Amanda?!" Aiden cried out in concern.

This wasn't good. It was like his Throne world all over again. He reached a door and kept running. As he ran, he called out to Ikora and Cayde, but got nothing. He finally reached was looked like a landing deck, Aiden summoning himself out beside him, and as they both glanced to their left, Liam shuttered into stillness. Whatever was on the Traveler had now extended some kind of strange cabling and was now seemingly wrapped around the Traveler. "How do we come back from this?"

"You don't."

Liam spun around to face the deep, gravelly voice and was greeted to the sight of a towering Cabal walking towards them. As he stopped, two Cabal guards flanking him, and he spoke again. "Welcome to a world without Light." He gestured to the Traveler and Liam snapped around to look. A strange shield of some sort quickly spread around the Traveler, the cables glowing a bright orange, and once it appeared to have swallowed the Traveler, pain ripped through Liam.

The Light was being forced away from him. Ripped out of him. Leaving him naked. Powerless.

Mortal.

"Guardian, something's wrong..." Aiden sputtered before he just dropped, the Light flickering away from him and Liam crumbled to the ground moments later. As the Cabal leader strode towards him, Liam reached out and gripped Aiden tightly in his hand, not dreaming of ever letting him go, dragging him to his side. The Cabal stopped in front of Liam and the Hunter glanced up at his assailant. "Do not look at me, creature!" The Cabal's foot slammed into his chest and Liam was sent flying across the landing deck, his Auto rifle lost as he bounced against it, pain blossoming in every nerve of his body, thudding onto his back, dazed.

"You are weak. Undisciplined. Cowering behind walls." As the Cabal spoke, Liam distantly noting this is the first time he's heard a Cabal speak in common, he shuffled back around and pushed himself onto his hands and knees. "You're not brave. You've merely forgotten the fear of death." The Cabal spoke as he strode closer, leaning down to be almost at Liam's eye level as he managed to get back onto his feet. "Allow me to reacquaint you." With a swift backhand, Liam was sent off his feet once more, landing hard on his back and skidding to the edge of the deck. The momentum, along with the impact, caused Aiden to be jiggled out of his death grip just enough for him to be flown off the edge. "AIDEN!" Liam cried as he watched his best friend fall back to the City, not knowing if he'd even survive a fall from this height without the Light, his hand reaching for him uselessly.

"Your kind never deserved the power you were given." Liam glanced over his shoulder and turned, sitting on his knees as he looked upon the Cabal that might end up killing him. "I am Ghaul. And your Light..." Ghaul pointed to the Traveler then, his eyes narrowing down on Liam in disdain. "...is mine." His foot was placed against Liam's head and almost gently shoved him off the edge of the ship, Liam practically limp as he began barreling down to most likely his death.

At least he knew the name of the one who killed him.


End file.
